Members of the trypsin/chymotrypsin-like (S1) serine protease family play pivotal roles in a multitude of diverse physiological processes, including digestive processes and regulatory amplification cascades through the proteolytic activation of inactive zymogen precursors. In many instances protease substrates within these cascades are themselves the inactive form, or zymogen, of a xe2x80x9cdownstreamxe2x80x9d serine protease. Well-known examples of serine protease-mediated regulation include blood coagulation, (Davie, et al (1991). Biochemistry 30:10363-70), kinin formation (Proud and Kaplan (1988). Ann Rev Immunol 6: 49-83) and the complement system (Reid and Porter (1981). Ann Rev Biochemistry 50:433-464). Although these proteolytic pathways have been known for sometime, it is likely that the discovery of novel serine protease genes and their products will enhance our understanding of regulation within these existing cascades, and lead to the elucidation of entirely novel protease networks.
Proteases are used in non-natural environments for various commercial purposes including laundry detergents, food processing, fabric processing, and skin care products. In laundry detergents, the protease is employed to break down organic, poorly soluble compounds to more soluble forms that can be more easily dissolved in detergent and water. In this capacity the protease acts as a xe2x80x9cstain remover.xe2x80x9d Examples of food processing include tenderizing meats and producing cheese. Proteases are used in fabric processing, for example, to treat wool in order prevent fabric shrinkage. Proteases may be included in skin care products to remove scales on the skin surface that build up due to an imbalance in the rate of desquamation. Common proteases used in some of these applications are derived from prokaryotic or eukaryotic cells that are easily grown for industrial manufacture of their enzymes, for example a common species used is Bacillus as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,217,878. Alternatively, U.S. Pat. No. 5,278,062 describes serine proteases isolated from a fungus, Tritirachium album, for use in laundry detergent compositions. Unfortunately use of some proteases is limited by their potential to cause allergic reactions in sensitive individuals or by reduced efficiency when used in a non-natural environment. It is anticipated that protease proteins derived from non-human sources would be more likely to induce an immune response in a sensitive individual. Because of these limitations, there is a need for alternative proteases that are less immunogenic to sensitive individuals and/or provides efficient proteolytic activity in a non-natural environment. The advent of recombinant technology allows expression of any species"" proteins in a host suitable for industrial manufacture.
Here we describe the molecular identification of a cDNA encoding a novel serine protease we have termed protease T. The protease T cDNA sequence predicts a preproprotease T polypeptide of 290 amino acids, and its alignment with other well-characterized serine proteases clearly indicates that it is a member of the S1 serine protease family.
Enzymatically active protease T is amenable to further biochemical analyses for the identification of physiological substrates and specific modulators. Modulators of Protease T are potentially useful as therapeutic agents in the treatment of diseases associated with the immune system, including but not limited to immune cell function. In addition, expression of protease T in certain regions of the brain as well as the testis and stomach, suggests that modulators of protease T function could be used to treat disorders effecting these tissues. Purified protease T can be manufactured as a component for formulation of compositions for cleansing agents, food processing, fabric processing, laundry detergents and skin care products.
The recombinant DNA molecules coding for protease T, and portions thereof, are useful for isolating homologues of the DNA molecules, identifying and isolating genomic equivalents of the DNA molecules, and identifying, detecting or isolating mutant forms of the DNA molecules.